This invention relates generally to protective bandages, and more particularly to protective bandages including force-transmission-impeding members therein.
Protective bandages are used for a wide variety of applications, including the protection of skin grafts, surgical wounds, traumatic wounds e.g., cuts and abrasions, decubitus ulcers (or prevention thereof) that most commonly form in areas of the sacral, hip, buttocks and elbows. These protective bandages come in a variety of sizes to protect injured skin areas of varying sizes. For example, bandages having a length in the range of 1xe2x80x3 to 2xe2x80x3 generally are provided to protect blisters and similar skin injuries. Bandages that are generally 3xe2x80x3 to 4xe2x80x3 in length are commonly employed to protect small surgical incisions of the type that are made in hernia operations and in other minor surgical procedures. Bandages that are 6xe2x80x3 to 8xe2x80x3 in length, and even longer, are employed to protect larger incisions that are made in connection with major surgical procedures, e.g., back surgery and heart related surgeries. Bandages employed to protect surgical incisions generally are in the range of 2xe2x80x3 to 3xe2x80x3 wide.
Common prior art protective bandages generally include an inner gauze or other protective layer or member surrounded by an adhesive layer. The gauze or other protective member is placed over the area of the skin to be protected, and is adhered in that position by the sounding adhesive layer. While these bandages do protect the injured skin area from direct external contact with other surfaces, forces imposed on the bandage, either compressive or shear, often are transmitted to the inner protective layer and to the underlying injured area. Thus, when an external force is applied to the outer surface of the bandage, that force often is transmitted to the injured area, thereby either re-injuring the area or preventing the area from healing properly.
Although bandages for absorbing forces are disclosed in the prior art, a need exists for improved structures that are more effective in shielding an injured area on a person""s skin from external forces, both compressive and shear.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,913,928, issued to Kauffman, discloses a device for treating and protecting corns. In this device, a sac-like, hollow-walled body is separated by a space including air or another buoyant fluid therein, such as glycerin. Although the patentee states that the sac-like body has inherent elastic qualities, it is not employed in connection with a protective bandage of the type forming the subject matter of the present invention. In fact, the sac-like member is placed in direct contact with a person""s skin; preferably behind an area to be protected. In other words, in a preferred mode of the invention the protective member is not placed directly over an area to be protected.
Moreover, the sac-like arrangement disclosed in the Kauffman ""928 patent is not believed to be optimum for isolating the skin surface contacted by the sac-like member from shear forces.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,170,781, issued to Loomis, discloses several embodiments of a protective bandage. In the embodiments illustrated in FIGS. 1-4, a bubble-type member 120 (or multiple bubbles 120A) filled with air are positioned on the upper surface of a bandage to purportedly provide a cushioning effect. The patentee states that the protective bubbles(s) is (are) filled with air and are disposed only over the region of the bandage including the sterile pad. Although the Loomis construction may be effective to protect a wound against compressive forces, shear forces imposed upon the upper surface of the bandage still will be undesirably transmitted through the bandage to an underlying area of the skin in contact with the protective gauze pad of said bandage.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,945,679, issued to Baranitsky, describes an adhesive bandage construction that is intended to dissipate frictional (i.e., shear) forces imposed upon the outer surface of the bandage prior to those forces being transmitted to a protective pad 28. In this construction. the bandage includes a conventional anchoring member 12 that extends beyond sterile pad 28 to provide wings having an adhesive material thereon to thereby adhere the bandage to a person""s skin in a conventional manner. In the disclosed structure, a flexible planar body or sheet 20 is positioned the lower side of the bandage between the anchoring member and the sterile pad to purportedly preclude shear forces imposed upon the anchoring member from being transmitted to the sterile pad. In this construction, the planar sheet 20 is adhered to the anchoring member 12 at the peripheral edges thereof and remains unconnected to the anchoring member over substantially the entire inner surface of the planar sheet material. In view of the fact that the planar sheet material 20 is physically connected to the anchoring member, any shear force imposed upon the anchoring member will be transmitted to the planar sheet 20, thereby inherently imparting some shear force to the underlying sterile pad 28.
In view of the deficiencies existing with prior art bandages, a need exists for protective bandages of the type that effectively protect the wound from external forces imposed upon the bandage, e.g., compressive forces and/or shear forces.
A particularly acute problem exists in connection with the protection of decubitus ulcers or the prevention thereof, as well as the protection of skin grafts. Skin grafts are very slippery when initially applied, and tend to shift if the protective layer of a bandage in contact with the graft is caused to shift as a result of experiencing an external shear force applied to an outer surface of the bandage. In other words, skin grafts often experience movement regardless of the best efforts employed to attempt to immobilize them.
There is a definite need for a protective bandage having particular benefit in protecting skin grafts and also in protecting or preventing the formation of decubitus ulcers. It is to such a bandage that the present invention relates.
It is a general object of this invention to provide protective bandages that impede the transmission of external forces from the outer surface of the bandage to inner surfaces engaging an injured area of the skin to be protected.
It is a more specific object of this invention to provide protective bandages that impede the transmission of external compressive and shear forces from the outer surface of the bandage to inner surfaces engaging an injured area of the skin to be protected.
It is still a further object of this invention to provide a protective bandage for protecting a variety of skin conditions.
It is a more specific object of this invention to provide a protective bandage having desirable properties for protecting skin grafts.
It is yet another specific object of this invention to provide a protective bandage having desirable properties for protecting or preventing the formation of decubitus ulcers.
It is still a further object of this invention to provide a protective bandage that prevent the undesired transmission of moisture e.g., sweat and urine, from permeating into the region of the protective layer contacting the skin, and also to absorb moisture or exudate directed through the bandage from a wounded area of a person""s skin.
The above and other objects of this invention are achieved in a protective bandage of the type including an anchoring strip having a protective layer on a lower surface thereof for overlying a desired area on a person""s skin and also including an adhesive on the lower surface for attaching the bandage to the person""s skin, said bandage including force-transmission-impeding means disposed above the anchoring strip.
In accordance with this invention, a top sheet is adhered adjacent peripheral edges thereof to an upper surface of the anchoring strip to define an internal compartment between the anchoring strip and the top sheet. A compressive, cushioning member is retained within the internal compartment for absorbing compressive forces, and low friction, relatively movable, contiguous surfaces within the internal compartment are spaced from the upper surface of the anchoring strip and are capable of sliding relative to each other to absorb shears, or lateral, forces imposed upon the bandage.
In a preferred embodiment of this invention, the top sheet is a planar mesh fabric that is stretchable in all directions within the plane of the fabric, to thereby stretch under the influence of shear forces imposed upon the fabric.
In the preferred form of this invention, the compressive cushioning member includes a gel-type material having at least some ability to maintain its shape when unexposed to external forces. A preferred gel-type material usable in this invention is sold commercially under the name xe2x80x9cGAKxe2x80x9d and has gel-like properties permitting it to move under the influence of both shear and compressive forces.
In accordance with one embodiment of this invention, the low friction, relatively movable confronting surfaces include the inner surface of the top sheet and an upper surface of the compressive cushioning member. When the compressive cushioning member includes xe2x80x9cGAKxe2x80x9d or other gel-type material, it is often desirable to additionally include an outer layer made of thin plastic film or other low friction material, to thereby provide the low friction surface for cooperating with the low friction lower surface of the top sheet.
In a more preferred embodiment of this invention, the force-transmission-impeding means includes, in addition to a first compressive, cushioning member, an additional member that is freely movable within the internal compartment provided between the top sheet and the anchoring strip. Specifically, this additional member is a free-floating member positioned between the top sheet and an upper, low friction surface of the first compressive cushioning member, and is free to move in all directions within the internal compartment under the influence of external shear forces imposed upon the upper surface of the bandage.
In a preferred embodiment of this invention, the additional member can also be provided with cushioning or compressive materials; provided that outer planar surfaces thereof are of a low friction material to permit easy sliding movement between the additional member and the inner surface of the top sheet and the upper, low friction surface of the first compressive member. In this preferred embodiment, there are two planes in which relative sliding movement takes place to dissipate shear forces. The first plane is between the inner surface of the top sheet and the upper surface of the additional, freely movable member. The second plane is between the additional freely movable member and the upper, low friction surface of the first cushioning member. Moreover, when the additional cushioning member includes compressive material therein, it will cooperate with the first compressive cushioning member to enhance, or provide additional cushioning against normal forces imposed upon the bandage.